Spacecraft
Spacecraft (or spaceships) were the main form of transport for traversing the universe. Despite having established working spacecraft in the mid-20th Century, humanity did not manage to have one of its own successfully leave its solar system for just under two hundred years. The United Earth Spacefleet/Earth Commonwealth Fleet The United Earth Spacefleet was established in 2113, consisting of an increasingly large fleet of spaceships of military capability to police and defend the Earth and colonised worlds. Despite renaming itself the Earth Commonwealth Fleet during the Colonial Revolutiony Wars, the prefix UESF was maintained as an honourary title to those ships who had first explored the depths of space. 'Early Expansionist Era' The very first ships created under the banner of The United Earth Spacefleet were colonistation ships, created for the sole purpose of taking large numbers of people from Earth to new planets around the galaxy. Although it went under the banner of being 'united' these early craft were largely funded by the Chinese and Indian governments but were staffed by an international crew. The colonisation ships were hulks and deliberatly so; built specifically to carry one million civilians in cryo-sleep as well as the materials, Builder-Bots and Explorer-Bots required to shape a new society. Although there were upgrades made to the power supplies and Warp Drives were retro-fitted into earlier shps, the design of the colonisation craft changed very little during the Expansionist Era, in many cases due to the sheer cost of building each craft. It was natural then, that when the Colonial Revolutionary Wars broke out that it would be the colonisation ships that would serve as troop transports and the initial war ships until a suitable military alternative could be made. Despite the majority of the United Earth Fleet being made up of colonisation ships they were not the only ones in existance. Even as early as 2114AD hugely superior spacecraft were being designed. Although most of these never made it off the drawing board they showed an understanding of space travel that would help the creation of later ships. There were many smaller craft made to assist the larger colonisation ship when it came to disembarking the millions of colonists to the surface below. These ships would be weaponised by the colonists of Tolvax and spark the militarization of space (see The First Battle of Tolvax ). 'Colonial Revolutionary Wars' #Dreadstar Class #Frigate Class #Planet Cruiser Class #Arrowheads Dreadstar Class The first militarised space craft to be put into production by the Commonwealth Fleet, the Dreadstar class was based largely off of the colonisation crafts of the past as many were just retrofitted versions of old models. The Dreadstar remained in use throughout the Colonial Revolutionary War even once it's offensive capabilities were outshone by newer models; sometimes as protection for a trade caravan and sometimes as a troop transport for enemy occupied worlds. Frigate Class UESF Frigates were the workhorses of the fleet, capable of offensive, defensive and rescue missions. They were equipped with the large-bore plasma cannons created on Aries II and the more traditional torpedo based weapons for less energy draining combat. They were equipped with Groesland Escape Tubes, an unrefined method of transport designed simply to extricate crew alive from a ship in it’s death throes. Navigational and landing capabilities are rudimentary. Probably the most famous of the United Earth Spacefleet frigates was "Erica's Shadow" , a UESF ship that - despite it's size - played a defining role in the Relief of the Argentum Biome during the Second Battle of Tolvax . Her Captain at the time was Captain Yolanda Masozi of the North African Combine . Her public reputation as a fearsome warrior was tainted by her opulent prediliction for exotic delicacies and exquisite narcotics. Planet Cruiser Class The final and most powerful of the large craft created during the Colonial Revolutionary Wars, the PCC was designed to be capable of accurate orbital bombardment and although this feature was very rarely used by the Commonwealth Fleet it posed as a true deterent to Independent forces when considering a counter attack. Arrowheads Designed to be small and nimble, the Arrowheads were unique in that they could be controlled by pilot or remotely from the 'mother ship' they were dispatched from. This allowed almost robotic squadrons to fight from distance and be used as powerful missiles when needed. It also allowed a single commander to fly and control the rest of a squadron which would automatically react to his orders, something that was often preferable to human error in space. Category:Spacecraft